Keller’s world of play is more and more becoming a world of therapy. I say we are ‘therapizing’ our entire lives at this point. Wake up turns into a therapy opportunity. School is a place where he is pushed toward therapy goals. Afternoon play is time for therapy. And then we end the day with bed-time play with a therapy spin. Yep. Therapizing our world.
We are now (finally!) starting ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) therapy with some great therapists. It is based around play but will really push Keller because the goal is to change his behavior to age-appropriate goals based on rewards. Basically it’s changing his behavior to grow and learn. A neruotypical child just naturally follows and mimics his or her parents and then learns behaviors, eating, talking, and social cues. Keller does not do that and so has to be taught everything. So we are starting with about 3 hours a week and will quickly move to 6 hours and more. This is in addition to his occupational therapy goals to help him with his sensory problems and our new dietary focus to get him more nutrition and rule out any food sensitivities.
As we therapize our world I feel like I am the last to accept it all. Keller is doing great (even though today included many tears, it ended in happy play). Kieren desperately wants to help Keller with EVERYTHING and loves being his therapist, as she is already sister, momma, coach, and dance instructor to him. Casey is taking it all in stride as he always does with life and is welcoming this new change seeing how much it will help Keller in the end. And then there is ME. I KNOW that the end goal is a Keller who can function and flourish in the world, which means he has a lot to learn, but his cries tear my heart apart. His world is very different from normal kids and I just can’t seem to accept it. But while it may not be fair, we see God is GOOD in providing so many to walk this new journey with us. We have doctors, therapists, community, resources, and tons of advice and wisdom. It may not be fair but it is full… FULL of God’s goodness and provision.
So Jesus we receive this new therapized world along with your great love for us that is so, so evident.
And YOU are welcome for bringing a new word into your world: ‘therapizing.’ Use it in a sentence right now so you don’t forget it.